Nady TD-1 Tube Distortion
Nady TD-1 Tube Distortion
By Adam Ironside
I only heard of the Nady TD-1 for the first time a few months ago when a friend told me that the original TD-1s had been a secret weapon of the late, great, Shawn Lane, who’s tone (and playing) I completely admire. Over the next few weeks I eagerly searched around for an original but could not find one anywhere, so here with us today we have the newer, re-issue version.
Features
At first glance the TD-1 may look a little complex and unorthodox, but don’t worry, inspecting further reveals what is actually a relatively simple and very versatile design. Also at this stage it is important to note that this is about the heaviest pedal I have ever come across, the casing is solid, and I mean SOLID. I guess it has to be to protect the tube inside but this thing is very sturdy and reassuringly protective.
The only thing I really dislike of this pedal in terms of features is the fact that it is somewhat difficult to get inside of. A few screws is not enough with this pedal, you pretty much have to take the whole thing apart which is a total pain if you are wanting to gain access to, and ultimately change, the tube inside.
So then, the controls…
Level – This is the output level of the effect, it has a LOT of boost available which can further take your amp into saturation heaven.
Drive – Pretty standard stuff, this is the gain knob, controlling the amount of distortion / overdrive.
High – This knob controls the high frequencies, adding or removing them. There is a HUGE amount of boost available in the EQ department which can help make the pedal act as a treble booster, taking you into the realm of Brian May tone. Towards the extremer settings this can make your tone very brittle and glassy, which is not something I particularly like, but there may be something to it for certain folk.
Low – Similar to the High knob but affecting the lower frequencies. Again, there is a lot of boost on tap and you can get silly amounts of bass, more bass than you should ever really use, but boosting the bass slightly and rolling off a little treble can give you a super smooth, rich, lead tone.
Presence – This knob can add or remove some of the high end presence in your signal, again ‘glassing’ up your tone if that is what you like.
As well as the knobs there are also three switches…
Drive Gain – This switch contains the overall drive / gain available. The settings are Low, Medium, and High.
High End – This switch decides how the high end is added or removed from the signal. The settings are Low (which rolls off the upper frequencies), Medium (which has a flat response to the upper frequencies), and High (which adds a little extra top end boost).
Mid Boost – This switch decides on the amount of Mid range added to your tone. The settings, again, are Low (which is a flat response to themid frequencies), Medium (which adds a great TS9 type mid hump), and High (which adds an excessive mid boost).
Sounds
As always at the beginning of my review I plugged straight into the pedal, set the knobs in a random position, and let rip. I do this because it provides a great first impression of the pedal, the first impressions were good!
The first thing I notice is that the distortion is not ‘tinny’ or harsh in anyway, in fact it is very smooth and warm. At this
point I already think I am Shawn Lane and attempt to play some stuff I clearly cannot play, but I feel good! Now, to some more serious playing with my new toy…
First off I have the Drive Gain selector switch set to the Low mode. On this setting the pedal is designed to give a bluesy crunch and a ‘vintage’ British type of sound. I found this to be the case and enjoyed it very much. The pedal is very dynamic at these low gain settings and responds to pick attack very well. Pushing the gain up to almost full on the low setting and your tone starts to get a little smoother and less ‘rough around the edges.’ We’re talking low gain 808 but a little warmer type of sound here.
At these low gain settings the High EQ knob is particularly sensitive and can be pushed up to ear punishing levels. If you use this tone live everyone is going to know you have started solo-ing. At the same time though, I still had a feeling that even this much treble COULD be good in the right situation.
Next I moved the slider up to Medium Gain settings. Ahh this is more like it, this is where I want to be. Immediately I hear smooth, phat, harmonically rich, singing sustain with such an incredible warmth that I almost shed a tear: ‘Have I finally found a single pedal that can give me that ”liquid” tone?’
I reduce the top end a little and push the bass just slightly. It is definitely sounding good now with the gain at about 3 O’clock. Suddenly I remember the mid boost function and put in place a slight mid boost. This is it, this is what I have been looking for for a long time. I actually smiled constantly as I played for the next few minutes. This type of tone just cries for legato playing and upon entering full-blown legato mode I am beginning to hear definite fusion tone. I cannot describe how warm this tone is, there is certainly something magic about it.
I try adding an extra mid boost but this proves to be a little too much for my tastes, after all the mids are quite high on my amp anyway, but I can imagine this being perfect for modern metal bands who have a very scooped mid section. Using this full mid boost will add that much required presence to a modern metal player’s tone when they switch to the pedal for a solo.
On this same setting the treble boost dial is still very sensitive and the amount of bass that can be added is nothing short of insane, you can REALLY feel your bowels rattle. Some of the settings seem a little too extreme and unnecessary, but perhaps that is just my conservative tastes? Anyway, it is certainly there is you need it.
Finally I try out the high gain settings. The first thing I notice is that noise starts to appear in my signal, so far the pedal has been VERY quiet, but this is inherent with high gain settings and nothing a noise gate wouldn’t help solve.
On this high gain setting the dynamics seem to get lost a little and the tone becomes a little harsher, but not too harsh. This is definitely a good setting for heavier metal solos and with the top end pushed a little I also got a very Malmsteen flavour to my tone. Out of all of the gain settings I believe that the pedal functions a lot better at low to mid settings. It can do heavier distortions but in my opinion this is not where the pedal excels.
So far we have been talking lead tones into a clean channel, and the pedal does that very well, but what about boosting already driven tones?
There is not much to say here to be honest. This pedal certainly CAN boost already driven tones but again, this is not where the pedal excels. I found that my tone became almost muddy when boosting my rhythm and lead channels but perhaps I am a little biased as I also own a Butler Tube Driver, which does this job a thousand times better in my opinion. Perhaps if I had not played the Tube Driver before then the Nady would be more impressive in this area?
Overall
The TD-1 has found a permanent place on my personal pedal board, right next to the Tube Driver. Why can any one man require TWO tube driven pedals? Well the answer is this:
Both the Tube Driver and the TD-1 do two totally different things for me. The TD-1 goes into my clean channel and gives me that ‘liquid fusion’ tone that I have sought for a long time. It is not quite as fluid as Shawn Lane or Allan Holdsworth yet, but I believe this pedal is definitely going to get my ninety per-cent of the way there.
The TD-1 definitely excels in the lower to medium gain overdrive settings but the whole range of gain is definitely usable. The EQ controls are a great touch and very versatile and the mid boost feature is fantastic, something I in fact wish that the Butler Tube Driver had.
Anyway, long story short, I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed with this fantastic pedal.
Rating
9.1 – For the price (around £100 new) this unit totally destroys anything in its price range and is considerably more versatile than a lot of solid state distortion pedals. It is a shame that this pedal is relatively unheard of in the guitar community and I am going to do my best to spread word of this fantastic product.
Alongside a few other overdrive pedals, I have just about all of the variety of lead tones I could ever ask for. This one provides my ‘liquid’ tone as I have stated. It is warm, rich, fat, and well… just sexy.
I very nearly gave this pedal a perfect 10 (or at least a 9.5) and it could have made it there if only it worked better with already dirty tones. It does work, just not all that great.
13 Nov 2011, 6:13 pm
Hey Duke, glad you like the review man.
‘Ripping off ‘ is actually surprisingly common because you cannot copyright a circuit per sé. You CAN copyright the layout, but a few component changes and a jiggle of the layout is perfectly, legally acceptable. Anyway, I’m not sure what the actual deal is with the ToneBone and TD-1.
Thanks for the information regarding how similar these two are.
12 Nov 2011, 7:38 pm
I’ve had both the TD-1 and ToneBone Classic and tried them side by side and they sounded identical. I kept the TD-1. It does indeed have a very liquid and lush tone. The only thing I don’t like is the unbelievably funky and awkward way the power supply hooks up to the box and sticks out nearly 2″ from the side, making it impossible to fit into a small spot. They’ve changed that on the ToneBone to the standard Boss type adapter that comes in at the top.
Even though I had heard nothing about their similarities it seemed obvious they were the same pedal in a different box and I’ve no idea why. Not necessarily that one copied the other because some effects were made and marketed by more than one company through agreement, i.e., Ibanez and Maxon making the TS-808. It’s a bit ridiculous to believe that either one simply “ripped off” the other.
Great pedal. Thanks for the review.
25 Aug 2011, 1:29 pm
I’m sure the Tonebone tueb pedals came out and were well established before this Nady pedal. Rgds
25 Aug 2011, 11:46 am
Hey man, as far as I am aware the Tonebone Classic actually ripped this pedal off, but I can’t be sure. I have played a Tonebone Classic and I thought the TD-1 was a LOT smoother, but I wasn’t able to compare them side by side.
24 Aug 2011, 7:02 pm
P.S.
You say it’s a reissue. I don’t believe it is though. The TD-1 from the 1970s (branded as Guyatone as well as Nady) is a very different pedal, although they both have a real tube in them. The identical model name is just a misnomer. They also did a TO-1 tube overdrive.
Also, I don’t think you mention in your article, but isn’t this pedal basically a complete rip-off of a Tonebone Classic? The controls are identical I think.
24 Aug 2011, 6:57 pm
Great to see something written about on this, there’s not much to find about it on the net! Well done. This pedal is a little known gem in my book.